The Science of Caddyshack

astroengine writes "Thirty years after the release of the cult classic comedy Caddyshack, Discovery News has geeked out and gone on the hunt for any trace amount of science they can find in the movie (video). From gopher territoriality to seismic deformation, from pool poop bacteria to the color of lightning, it turns out there's quite a lot of science to talk about..."

Mythbusters on the forefront

[Drakkenmensch]

Turns out they already tested the C4 explosion pushing the golf ball down the cup. The explosion neither provided the onscreen fireball or the ground shaking required to push the ball down. Myth busted!

Re:Mythbusters on the forefront

[Drakkenmensch]

Even if you disagree with the show format, you can hardly dispute the fact that they seeded the ground with actual C4 and blew it up with a few dozen yards of a golf cup with a precariously perched golf ball. And it held firmly in place.

Re:Mythbusters on the forefront

[Plekto]

The problem with C4 is that it's too explosive. If you watch the show frequently, you see them talk about how it feels for each type of explosive. C4 is a very sharp and quick jolt, and as a result, won't do anything much to the ground and surrounding area at long distances. Gunpowder or something much slower, though, would have had the desired effect. Yet again, Hollywood goes for high-tech and fancy when low-tech and simple actually is how it should be. To be honest, if the guy had a few barrels of gunpowder(or dynamite) and fertilizer in the movie nobody would have cared. IMO, it would have been more realistic as well, since one could see him legally obtaining the items in question as a part of his job.

Re:Mythbusters on the forefront

[ebuck]

I don't think so. They forgot to properly mold the C4 into friendly forest animals.

Re:Mythbusters on the forefront

[blair1q]

erm, no.

high-speed explosive is just fine for this, but i'm guessing (because i didn't see that episode) that it wasn't tamped with enough earth above it to create a reaction mass that would reflect significant energy into the ground. large bang, small bullet, no recoil. also, i highly doubt they used enough. it takes a way huge lot of thump to make ground move several meters away without some extenuating circumstance.

which brings me to the subject of golf course soils. good golf courses have very porous soil, having been constructed for drainage, as standing and flowing water are a nuisance to golfers and greenskeepers and bad for grass (or glass, if you're channelling Chinatown today). especially under the greens. you can jump a foot in the air about two meters from the hole and make a ball wiggle. so their choice of venues would be critical. local $12 muni? expect it to be hard as a rock out there. snooty private country club? like blowing up gophers next to a bowl of jell-o.